Ready to turn your passion for baking into a business? Here are some of the unique ways to accomplish this. In the United States, retail sales for baked products in 2017 rose by 1.6% with further grow projected through 2022. As you’ll discover, many of these ideas can be started from a home kitchen thanks to Cottage food business laws.
Curious about what type of baking business you could start? Here are some of our best ideas organized by category. If you find an idea that piques your interest, don’t forgot to dive into the extended resources we’ve provided for each idea.
- Home Based Bakery
- Bakery Truck
- Healthy / Ancient Grain Baking Company
- Alcohol-Infused Baking Company
- Gluten-Free Bakery
- Cracker Company
- Kosher Baking Brand
- Mexican Bakery
- French Bakery
- Cupcake Business
- Cinnamon Bun Company
- Tortilla Company
- Flat Bread Company
- Pita Company
- Cauliflower Crust Company
- Bread Baking Business
- Baking Classes
- Baking Supply Shop
- Baking Blog
- Coffee Shop and Bakery
- Cookbook Author
- Wedding Cake Business
- Cookie Business
- Pie Business
- Donut Shop Business
- Banana Bread Business
- Cake Pop Business
- Food Photographer
- Retail Bake Shop
- Organic Bakery
- Brownie Business
- E-Commerce Store
- Cake Decorator
- Personal Chef / Baker
- French Pastry Business
- Sandwich Business
- Churro Business
Home-Based Bakery
Having a home-based bakery saves you rent expenses and other overhead.
When Jennifer Jacobs started thinking about opening a bakery our of her home she was worried customers wouldn’t view her was as legitimate. Will anyone take me seriously if I don’t have a retail bakery she wondered? But as it turns out, if you can bake well, customers don’t care at all.
Jennifer even asked successful bakery owners in her hometown of St. Petersburg for advice. The advice from entrepreneurs who already opened their own bakeries was resounding… You should start selling cookies, cakes, donuts, or whatever out of your home first. Use the time at home to build your client list. As your baking business grows and becomes profitable then you can move into a retail space.
Starting a business can be daunting especially when you think about the expenses. One factor is rent. Rent and labor are the two largest expenses for most businesses and can quickly add up to a few thousands dollars per month in overheard. Lease agreements at retail spaces can be 5 years or longer. That’s a long commitment for any unproven business.
Depending on the baking equipment you already own, you can open a home base baker for next to nothing. Otherwise make sure to build mixers, baking pans, spoons, bowls, and other basics into the cost estimate of your plan. Also, don’t forget to setup your bakery as a cottage food business. The cost to start a cottage food business will vary depending on your state, but is usually less than $200 in fees.
In comparison, if you planned to open a retail bakery will require around $50,000 – $250,000 to open up. Imagine how much more you can save by just being a home-based bakery. It can be a whole lot less stressful to get started too.
Keep in mind that home-based bakeries will rely on marketing to get their name out there so make use of marketing strategies such as advertising on social media especially on Facebook since it’s considered the main content distribution site for marketers.
Jennifer Jacobs got her start selling cookies to her co-workers. After her co-workers kept making repeat purchases, she knew she was onto something. By the way after many years running a bakery from her home, Jennifer now owns a beautiful retail location called Wandering Whisk Bakeshop in St. Petersburg, Florida. Learn more about her story and how you can open an at-home bakery.
Bakery Truck
Bakery trucks have lots of bread on display.
Think food truck but with bread displayed for you as you would see at your local bakery. Bakery trucks can be a hit if you set your mind to it and offer up a display with appetizing varieties of bread.
A bakery food truck might cost $35,000 – $75,000 depending on the age, equipment, and model of unit. Depending on your state laws, you might also need to a commissary where you can bake the bread there and just have it displayed in the truck afterward.
If you install an oven onboard the food truck, you’ll have an effective marketing tactic with the delicious smells you’ll put into the air at events. Keep in mind that due to size limitations on the truck, you may still need to bake in a commercial kitchen. A lot of the space on the truck will be used for displaying your pastries and other baked goods.
To learn more about starting a successful bakery food truck, check out our full case study.